Mark Cavendish on the ground after falling during the 8th stage of the Tour de France, between Libourne and Limoges, July 8, 2023. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
The striking image of the eighth day of the Tour de France, Saturday July 8, will also be the last of Mark Cavendish on the event: the Briton, looking haggard, face closed and staring blankly, installed in the ambulance of the organizers . A few minutes earlier, he suffered a fall in the peloton, about sixty kilometers before the finish in Limoges. The leader of the Astana-Qazaqstan formation, hit in the right shoulder, threw in the towel; the fifth abandonment of this 110th edition.
Enough to hide the victory of the Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), the first to cross the line after a new massive sprint in front of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The 2019 world champion who also becomes the first runner to raise his arms in four major Tours in a row since… Mark Cavendish in 2010-2011. On arrival, the winner of the day also had a word for his comrade, the man with 162 career victories: “It’s so sad that a legend like him ends the Tour like that. I was so hoping for him to get his 35th win [sur l’épreuve]. It’s painful for him, of course, but also for a large part of the peloton and the fans. »
Read also Tour de France 2023: Mads Pedersen wins in force in Limoges
“When I heard during the race that Mark had fallen, I was really very sadlamented Tadej Pogacar, double winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021. He was one of my childhood idols. I still remember when I watched him sprinting on television in his HTC jersey on the Champs Elysées. I wanted to have the same style. »
If the premature departure of Mark Cavendish had the effect of a crushing blow, it is also because the day before, in Bordeaux, the person concerned had come very close to becoming the only holder of the record for stage victories on a race he was competing for the 14th and last time – at 38, he decided to retire from sport at the end of the year. 250 meters from the line, he had come out of nowhere, but could not resist Philipsen’s return. Second, he promised then that he would continue to try… In vain. The native of the Isle of Man will not sign this famous 35th historic success on the Tour which would have made him overtake the legend Eddy Merckx on the list of winners of the Grande Boucle.
“We knew he wanted this victory”
“I’m not going to lie, I criedslipped Mark Renshaw, who was Cavendish’s pilot fish for many years and now works as a consultant for the Astana-Qazaqstan team. It’s very hard. We knew he wanted this victory, that he had the legs. » Especially since the course of the “Cav'”, accustomed to taking risks during sprint finishes, was sealed on a totally flat and safe road, entering the town of La Chapelle-Verlaine, unless 45 km/h. “Someone changed course, he just hit the rear wheel of the guy in front of himsummed up his teammate Gianni Moscon. I stayed with him to see how he was doing, but he was unable to leave. »
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